Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me, it's great to see so many of you here.

My name is Ms. Halladay and I'll be your teacher for today.

I can't wait to get started with our learning as we'll be diving even deeper into the fantastic novel by Charlotte Bronte, "Jane Eyre." So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called, "Lowood Institution Gothic Settings in Jane Eyre." And by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how Bronte uses a semantic field and pathetic fallacy to create a gothic setting.

Here are some keywords that you will need for today's lesson.

We've got to adhere to, oppressive, regimented, semantic field, and finally, pathetic fallacy.

Let's take a look at what these keywords mean.

So first of all, if you adhere to something, you abide by it or you obey a set of rules or conventions.

If something is oppressive, it makes people feel uncomfortable or it is cruel and unfair.

If something is regimented, it's very strictly organised or controlled.

A semantic field is a group of words that all share similar meaning.

And finally, pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood, and that is usually the mood of the main character.

If you would like to take a moment to pause the video and jot these key definitions down, then please feel free to do so.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're gonna begin by looking at semantic fields in a bit more detail, before moving on to looking at pathetic fallacy.

But let's start first with semantic fields.

Let's begin with a quick discussion task.

And it's a true or false one.

So true or false, "Gothic settings must be terrifying.

You must feel a great sense of fear for a setting to be considered gothic." So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video and discuss either with the people around you or thinking independently if you're working alone, do you think that that statement is true or do you think that it's false? So pause the video and off you go.

And a massive well done to those of you that identified that that is in fact false.

And the reason for that is because, we know that the gothic genre aims to frighten, to unsettle, and to mystify readers.

However, gothic settings do not have to be spine chillingly scary to be considered gothic.

You don't have to be quaking in your boots when you're reading a gothic text for it to be considered gothic.

What you do have to feel is somewhat unsettled or uncomfortable in some way, and that's what characterises a text as gothic.

Gothic texts also have to adhere to gothic conventions such as battle between good and evil, and isolated or arrogant protagonist, violence or the threat of violence.

So conventions like that need to be present in the text for it to also be considered gothic.

So well done, if you've got any of those ideas, great start to the lesson.

So, I would like you to discuss again, either with the people around you or thinking independently, well, what are the conventions of gothic settings and what would we expect to see in a gothic setting? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that with the people around you, off you go.

And fantastic work if you remembered that gothic settings have to be really unsettling.

So they have to make us feel uncomfortable.

They are often remote or isolated and they might feel supernatural.

So we might see things like the moon, objects that we tend to associate with the supernatural, 'cause if we think, werewolves are thought of as coming out in the full moon.

So the moon often features in gothic settings because we associate it with the supernatural.

They're also usually old and abandoned or uncared for in some way, or aspects of them are abandoned or uncared for.

And therefore we might see themes of decay and death in those settings.

We might also feel that sense of threat that characterises gothic literature generally.

And we'd hope that gothic settings will be really dark because we know that this is a genre that is concerned with the darker side of humanity, and therefore gothic settings should reflect that.

So well done, if you've got any of those ideas, that is kind of what we would expect to see in a typical gothic setting.

So let's have a look at one now.

In chapter five of, "Jane Eyre," Jane is sent to the oppressive boarding school for girls, Lowood Institute.

Now, oppressive is one of our key words of the lesson, and you might remember that it means very controlling, or harsh, or cruel in some way.

So this is not a nurturing and kind school to go to.

It's very harsh, it's very kind of militant in a sense.

So, as Andeep points out, "Oppressive can mean cruel and unfair.

For example, if a ruler is described as oppressive, they are likely to have very, very strict rules in place that prevent people from having freedom, with even harsher punishments for those who disobey the rules." And June adds, "Well, oppressive can also mean to make people feel uncomfortable.

For example, if a place is deadly silent, this can feel quite oppressive." So here, we've got two definitions of oppression that are quite similar, but they have slight nuance in difference.

Now I'd like you to discuss, well, how might an oppressive setting be considered a gothic one? So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you use June and Andeep's definitions to consider how this would make a perfect gothic setting.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and really well done for those perceptive ideas that you've raised, let's turn to Andeep and June and see what they think.

So Andeep points out that, "An oppressive setting would be considered gothic because this kind of setting would make the reader feel quite uncomfortable or unsettled, and that is a key defining feature of a gothic setting." And June adds, "Well, oppressive institutions also aim to isolate their inhabitants, which is another gothic feature," because remember, we know that often protagonists in gothic literature are either arrogant, isolated, or both.

So therefore, this kind of oppressive institution would definitely isolate its inhabitants, and therefore we would start to see that theme of isolation creeping into the gothic text.

So a massive well done if you managed to identify how an oppressive setting would be considered gothic, great work.

So let's check for understanding, "What does oppressive mean?" Is it A, causing people to feel extreme rage and despair? Is it B, cruel and unfair, C, sad and desolate, or D, causing people to feel worried or uncomfortable? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection now.

Fantastic if you chose B and D.

Oppressive means either cruel and unfair, or we can use that word oppressive to describe something that causes people to feel worried or uncomfortable in some way.

So well done if you got that right.

And another little check for understanding.

So, "Why would an oppressive setting be considered gothic?" Is it A, because this kind of setting would make readers feel enraged and angry, which is a key aim of gothic literature? Is it B, that this kind of setting would make readers feel indifferent and disinterested, which is a key aim of gothic fiction? Or is it C, this kind of setting would make readers feel unsettled, which is a key aim of gothic literature? So I'm going to invite you again to pause the video while you jot down the letter that corresponds to the answer you'd like to submit as the correct one.

Off you go.

And again, a massive well done because I could see the vast majority of people got this right.

So really well done if you put C.

An oppressive setting could be considered gothic because this kind of setting would naturally make readers feel quite uncomfortable and unsettled.

And we know that that's a key aim of gothic literature.

So well done if you remembered that, great work.

So let's have a look at an oppressive setting in the novel, "Jane Eyre." So this extract is taken from chapter five of Jane Eyre and we're going to read it together.

I'm going to read it, and if you could be following along, that would be great, thank you.

As I'm going to ask you some questions about the extract in just a moment.

So make sure that you're really following along closely and paying attention.

So let's start reading, "The garden was a wide enclosure, surrounded with walls so high as to exclude every glimpse of prospect.

A covered veranda ran down one side and broad walks boarded a middle space divided into scores of little beds.

These beds were assigned as gardens for the pupils to cultivate and each bed had an owner." So I would like you now to discuss using that extract.

Why are the walls so high at Lowood and what impression do you get of the school from the description of the garden? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider those questions with the people around you, or just jotting your ideas down if you're working on your own.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

So to pick up the first question of why are the walls so high, well we're told that the walls are really high so that the view is blocked, so that pupils cannot see outta the garden.

And Bronte phrases this as, "To exclude every glimpse of prospect." And that very word prospect kind of means people's hopes, and ambitions, and future prospects.

So in characterising the walls as really high, there is this suggestion that in some way Lowood kind of crushes its pupils dreams or prevents them from undertaking great personal growth.

So there's kind of this idea that the school is really oppressive, not only physically because it stops students from seeing out of the garden, but also kind of personally as well.

Because it clearly prevents 'em from fulfilling any ambitions, or it prevents 'em from even having ambitions in the first place, because it excludes quote, "Every glimpse of prospect." So every hope, every ambition, every dream that the students might have, it tends to crush.

So it's not really characterised as a very nice place.

And in terms of the impression that we get of the school, well actually, the garden is presented as very organised and arranged, almost regimented, okay? So very kind of strict and controlled.

And from this, we learn that Lowood is a very strict and oppressive environment.

So let's have a look at this idea of control in more detail then.

So which words specifically show you that the garden is organised in a very regimented way, and where do we get the sense of oppression in the extract? So I've put the extract on the slide for you again so that you can see it along with the question.

And what I'd like you to do now, is pause the video while you identify those specific words that show you how regimented and controlled the garden is.

So pause the video and work with the people around you to identify those keywords.

Off you go.

fantastic work.

And here's some of the words you might have selected as showing this idea that the garden is very regimented.

So that word enclosure and the fact it's surrounded, so pupils can't get out of it, basically.

It excludes every glimpse of prospects.

So again, this idea of isolation, it tends to isolate people who are in it from the outside world.

The veranda is covered, again, it stops peoples from seeing out so that they feel isolated.

And it's kind of very controlling in the sense that they can't see beyond the school.

The fact that the broad walks are bordered, and divided, and assigned to pupils, okay? Again, it shows kind of the routine that's been established here, and the fact that pupils have to adhere to this routine.

And the fact that each bed has an owner.

So again, the pupils are isolated from one another because they're not allowed to work on the same flower beds as one another.

So well done if you selected those words as all showing us how regimented the garden is.

And a double well done if any of you mentioned this word, semantic field.

I think I heard a few people, so I'm really impressed.

Now here, what we have is actually a semantic field of control.

Now, if you remember, a semantic field is a group of words that are all related in meaning.

So all of these words here share the same meaning and share similar connotations of control and oppression.

So they are therefore part of a semantic field of control and oppression.

So as I said before, this word enclosure shows us that there's no way of escaping.

We see that the very design of the garden aims to isolate pupils, and that's shown through these words, covered, divided, and exclude.

And we also see that theme of control being introduced here because it contributes to the oppressive atmosphere, the fact that the garden was assigned to pupils and the beds, you know, each bed had a specific owner.

We see the pupils really having no choice and no freedom to make decisions within this garden, because all of their decisions have already been made by somebody else.

So well done if you noticed that every single word in this description really contributes to this feeling of oppression and control that we have in the garden.

So onto our first task of the lesson.

In the extract, Bronte uses a semantic field of control to characterise the setting as oppressive.

And June points out, well yeah, "That's Bronte's method.

It's what she does to make the setting gothic." So remember that a method is anything that the writer does on purpose.

So as well as identifying the method, we also always have to consider why the method has been used and what its effect is.

And that is one of the cornerstones of being a great analytical writer.

It's no use just saying, you know, Bronte uses a semantic field, okay? Because anybody could do that.

What not everybody will be able to do is say, well, Bronte uses a semantic field and this is why she does it.

So we've always got to have that question of why in the back of our minds.

So what I would like you to do is explain the effect of Bronte's use of a semantic field in the extract using some of the sentence starters below.

So you could start with Bronte's, use of the semantic field of control shows us that the setting is, what? Because, and you're gonna tell me why or, and then you could say, well, this makes me feel, how does it make you feel? Because, and then explain to me why it makes you feel that way.

Now June's given us a little bit of advice and help here by saying, "Well, some of these words might help you to express your opinions." So we've got gothic, unnerved, uneasy, unsettled, regimented, one of our keywords of the lesson, suffocating, and claustrophobic.

So you might want to also use those words from June to help you to express your ideas and opinions.

So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you undertake that to task, make sure you are giving it your best effort as it's really important to consider not only what Bronte's doing, but why she's doing it.

So pause the video and off you go.

And a massive well done.

I was so impressed by the resilience that you all demonstrated, and how many of you were being really ambitious with your vocabulary and trying to use those words that June recommended to you.

So well done for that.

Here's what you might have written, "Bronte's use of the semantic field of control shows us that the setting is regimented and depressive because everything is carefully controlled, including the gardens.

This makes me feel concerned for Jane because she's just arrived at Lowood from an equally suffocating and depressive environment, which was her previous home at Gateshead.

And Lowood does not seem to allow the students much freedom, so Jane may find it equally claustrophobic there." So what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, using my responses above, what sense of threat is there in this setting? So where's the sense of threat that we get in this extract? I'm going to invite you now to pause a video while you discuss that with the people around you.

And a massive well done because I heard many of you identifying that there is the threat of control here.

Now, in my response, I've identified where Jane has come from and she's actually come from Gateshead where she was kind of neglected and mistreated by her Aunt Reed.

And here at Lowood, we see that Jane may be forced to relive her childhood neglect and abuse from Gateshead again at Lowood.

So there is this sense of threat and it's a sense of neglect and abuse, and control again that Jane faces here.

And I really like how the response here alludes to that.

So well done if you got that idea, great work.

So onto the second part of the lesson where we're going to look at pathetic fallacy in more detail.

So we know that gothic writers make great use of pathetic fallacy, but what I'd like you to discuss is, well, what actually is pathetic fallacy and what kinds of weather might we expect in gothic settings? So I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and some really great recall from some of you about what pathetic fallacy actually is.

So as Andeep states, "Well, pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood, and that's usually the mood of the main character." And June adds, "Well in gothic settings, we might expect to see thunder and lightning, rain, extreme cold, or icy conditions because these are all, arguably, uncomfortable weathers." I mean, some of you might really love the rain, I personally don't.

But you know, who's to say that everybody likes the same weather? So we've used that word, arguably to show that there are two ways of looking at this.

So as June points out, these are all arguably uncomfortable weathers and therefore they would likely feature in gothic texts for that reason.

So well done, if you've got those ideas and let's move on.

True or false, pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the appearance of the main character.

And I'm going to give you a moment to pause the video, while you decide whether you think that's true or false? Off you go.

And well done if you got false, you're absolutely right.

What I'd like you to do now, is read the two justifications and decide which one you think is the correct reason as to why this statement is false.

So pause the video, read the justifications, and pick the right one.

Off you go.

And a massive well done if you selected B.

Pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood of the main character, great work.

We're going to read the full extract from, "Jane Eyre." We started reading it in learning cycle one, but we're going to read the rest of it now, looking at Bronte's use of pathetic fallacy.

So as we read, I would like you to highlight references to the weather.

"The garden was a wide enclosure surrounded with walls so high as to exclude every glimpse of prospect.

A covered veranda ran down one side and broad walks boarded a middle space divided into scores of little beds.

These beds were assigned as gardens for the pupils to cultivate.

And each bed had an owner, when full of flowers, they would doubtless look pretty.

But now, at the latter end of January, all was wintry blight and brown decay.

I shuddered as I stood and looked around me.

It was an inclement day for outdoor exercise, not positively rainy, but darkened by a drizzling yellow fog; all under foot was still soaking wet with the floods of yesterday.

The stronger among the girls ran about and engaged in active games.

But sundry, pale, and thin ones herded together for shelter and warmth in the veranda.

And amongst these as the dense mist penetrated to their shivering frames, I heard frequently the sound of a hollow cough.

As yet, I had spoken to no one.

Nor did anybody seem to take notice of me.

I stood lonely enough, but to that feeling of isolation, I was accustomed.

It did not oppress me much.

I lent against a pillar of the veranda, drew my grey mantle close about me, and trying to forget the cold, which nipped me without.

And the unsatisfied hunger, which gnawed me within, delivered myself up to the employment of watching and thinking." Let's check for understanding before we move on.

True or false, we get the impression that Jane is being well looked after.

And I'm going to invite you to pause a video while you decide whether you think that is true or false.

Off you go.

And a massive well done if you selected false, okay? And what I'd like you to do now is justify your answer using one of the two reasons as to why this statement is false.

So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you select the statement that you think is the correct justification for that statement being false.

Off you go.

And well done if you selected A, you're absolutely right.

We get the impression that Jane is not being well looked after because we get the impression that she's actually being neglected, as we're told that she's hungry and cold.

The reason as to why this second justification is wrong is because it suggests that Jane has the hollow cough.

And that's not correct because Jane tells us that she hears other students with the hollow cough.

So well done if you've got answer A, fantastic comprehension and great reading.

Let's carry on reading.

"My reflections were too undefined and fragmentary to merit record.

I hardly yet knew where I was.

Gateshead and my past life seemed floated away to an immeasurable distance.

The present was vague and strange.

And of the future I could form no conjecture.

I looked around the convent like garden and then up at the house, a large building, half of which seemed grey and old, the other half quite new.

The new part containing the school room and dormitory was lit by mullioned and latticed windows, which gave it a church-like aspect.

A stone tablet over the door bore for this inscription, Lowood Institution." So what I'd like to do now is just give you a few moments to discuss some of the references to weather that you might have highlighted as we were reading.

So pause the video and share the quotations that you've highlighted with the people around you.

Off you go.

Fantastic, and many of you swapping and sharing ideas and it's lovely to see that.

So really well done.

So here were some of the references to the weather that we saw in this extract.

We saw, "Not positively rainy, but darkened by a drizzling yellow fog.

All under foot was still soaking wet with the floods of yesterday." We saw that the girls, "herded together for shelter and warmth." We saw, "As the dense mist penetrated to their shivering frames." And we saw Jane, "Trying to forget the cold, which nipped her without." So what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, how would you describe Jane's mood in this extract and how are the other students presented? And finally, what method here has Bronte used? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss those three questions with the people around you.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and some really perceptive ideas raised there.

So let's turn to our oak pupils for some of their thoughts on these three questions.

Starting with Andeep, who states, "Jane seems quite numb in this extract.

She states that she's lonely but doesn't feel it because she's used to being lonely.

She also seems quite emotionally cold and distant." And June adds, "Well, some of the other students are presented as unwell and physically vulnerable as they are pale and thin, and have a hollow cough." And Jacob adds, "Bronte has used pathetic fallacy to characterise the setting as bleak, but also to create a dismal and foreboding atmosphere that is representative of Jane's mood." So here Jane is not feeling too bright and sunny.

She's actually feeling quite numb and very kind of emotionally distant, not only from other people but also physically because she's isolated here at Lowood Institution.

So a massive well done to those of you that I heard discussing these ideas, some really perceptive ideas here that I'm so impressed that you came up with.

So a massive well done.

So onto our last task of the lesson now, and I'd like you to annotate at least two quotations using this question to guide you.

How does the weather here reflect Jane's mood and the condition of the other students? So here we are quotations that you are going to annotate again, we've just looked at these together and you've discussed them, so you should have some ideas already.

And here are some suggestions as to what you might want to focus your annotations on.

So you could examine Bronte's use of verbs, so verbs like herded, penetrated, nipped, and darkened.

You could also look at Bronte's use of adjectives, so dense and shivering.

And finally you might want to examine her use of colour symbolism with the colour yellow.

And if you remember, we looked at the colour connotations of yellow when we looked at Frankenstein monster.

So if you can remember the colour connotations of yellow, that will serve you very well here.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you go and annotate these fantastic quotations that I've given you, looking at how they reflect Jane's mood and the condition of the other students.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

And I'm really looking forward to sharing our ideas together as a group.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic annotations.

And it was great to see so many of you just doing it shorthand, you know? Not writing full sentences because that's not what annotations are, it's just those really quick brief ideas that you've had that can inspire your writing when you come to write your ideas up, so well done.

So let's look at our first quotation, "Not positively rainy, but darkened by a drizzling yellow fog.

All under foot was still soaking wet with the floods of yesterday." And you might have pulled out this word, darkened.

And this reflects Jane's sombre mood as she surveys the scene.

So she's not feeling too sunny here.

She's feeling almost quite bleak and numb to what's just happened to her.

The fact that she's been brought to this oppressive school.

And the weather here reflects that.

You also might have pulled out the colour yellow, and the connotations of yellow can be illness, okay? And this could reflect the unwell nature of the other pale and thin students with the hollow cough.

So again, here, the weather is reflecting the mood of the characters.

And finally we're told that yesterday the rain was flooding Lowood school.

And so here, the fact that the rain is in floods, that is almost reminiscent of the girls crying, okay? And it could reflect the distress of the students and also their vulnerability, because we know that they herded together for warmth.

So they are, in this case, relying on one another for emotional support.

So clearly they're feeling quite emotionally vulnerable as well.

So well done if you've got those ideas, and let's have a look at another quote.

So we've got here, "As the dense mist penetrated to their shivering frames." And you might have picked out this word, dense because that shows that the mist is really heavy and it's almost heavy like Jane's heart and perhaps her mind because she's weighed down by uncertainty about her present and her future, okay? She's not quite sure what being at this school will bring her, and it doesn't feel massively positive to her in this moment.

So here, this word, dense kind of reflects all these thoughts that she's having, and how kind of bleak they are.

And perhaps the fact that she can't see a bright and clear future for herself.

The fact that the mist penetrated the girls' shivering frames shows that the mist is inescapable, basically.

So the girls can't get away from it, it goes right through them.

And it's almost portrayed in quite a threatening way, 'cause it makes the girls seem more vulnerable as if everything the whole world is out to get them, or the whole world is working against them.

And that is probably how they feel in this school, because it's so oppressive and harsh, they probably feel like everything's against them.

So again, here we see the weather really clearly reflecting the moods of the girls at Lowood Institution.

And finally, this word, shivering and the word, frames, okay? Shivering, shows us how cold the weather is.

And this is reflective of how cold the institute itself is.

It's oppressive and regimented.

You know, the girls are not shown love, they're not nurtured in this institute.

They're very much herded around, almost like farm animals, just kind of processed through the system.

And the girls are not used to physical or emotional comfort.

And that's really reflected in the fact that they're shivering together.

They're kind of huddled together because they need that support from one another.

So well done if you've got those ideas, great annotations.

So to summarise the learning from today, well, a gothic setting does not have to be spine chillingly scary to be considered gothic.

And actually, a successful gothic setting makes the reader feel uneasy and unsettled, but not necessarily frightened.

An ominous and foreboding atmosphere in a gothic setting is often created through the use of semantic fields and pathetic fallacy.

If you remember, a semantic field is a group of words that all share similar meaning.

And pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood, usually of the main character.

And finally, it's important to remember that both of these methods are used really effectively in Jane Eyre, to characterise Lowood Institution as a really miserable and oppressive institute.

Thank you so much for coming to today's lesson.

It's been absolutely fabulous to discuss this amazing text with you in more detail.

I've really enjoyed it.

I'm massively looking forward to seeing you next time, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.

See you later.